Faith placed in youth and inexperience to get Newcastle United out of Championship

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After the Rafa Benitez question is answered, the next big one will be which Newcastle United players will be entrusted with the job of bouncing back to the Premier League.

Much debate as to who will and who won’t stay but I was very interested to see who the supporters wanted to stay.

Last week on The Mag a poll of thousands of fans produced some decisive results, supporters asked to choose the 10 outfield players they would most like to see stay.

There was one massive thing that stood out for me, the decision overwhelmingly came down to a split between players with experience & a sizeable track record, as opposed to those who didn’t.

Whereas the 2009/10 promotion was largely built on experienced players such as Nolan, Coloccini, Smith, Harper, Jonas, Taylor, Barton and others, this time Newcastle fans see the opposite.

Below are listed the 10 players with the highest fan support, then the six with the very lowest (see the full list HERE).

Of the 10 with the highest ratings, six of them are aged 22 or under and the oldest of the 10 (Colback) is 26.

In contrast, the six with the very lowest fan support are all aged 26 or older with only Riviere under the age of 28.

When it comes to Premier League starts for Newcastle, of the 10 most popular players, five have made 12 or less PL starts for Newcastle United.

The message definitely appears to be that the best route for Newcastle is to go with young players who have the desire, enthusiasm and energy to do the job, plus potentially a group of players who can stay together for years.